This will only be my second season turkey hunting. Last year me and a buddy went to my deer farm and had 5 gobbelers all around us, but to be honest I had zero clue as to what I was doing. My friend can call but I think we we were calling too much due to being so used to waterfowl hunting. Can you give me some tips as to how to hunt these guys. Maybe how often to call once you locate them and anything else i might need to know? thanks

Scroll down the page and read some of the threads. We have discussed this many times. There is no definite in turkey hunting. That is the challenge of it. One day they run you over, another day they won't have anything to do with you. The guys with experience will still kill turkeys because of the ability to adapt based on years of experience. As far as calling, call as little as you can and still get the bird to work. Everytime you call he pinpoints your location. You want to keep him searching for you. More importantly is your set up. When I realized set up and scouting was more important than any other factor, turkey hunting became fairly easy. When you set up, pick a spot they want to go to. You know this from scouting. When you see the bird for the first time he should be in range. This eliminates the bird hanging up in wide open woods. Don't call any more than you have to. Make him look for you. Hope this helps. Any questions let me know and I will try to help

Scout then scout some more and when you think you've got them figured out scout some more, your locating the roost, travel routs from the roost to feeding areas and strut zones. Figure out why they may go a certain rout rather than another, times they are at different locations, turks are creatures of habit learn their areas and habits and you are half way home!Learn the yelp, and pattern your shotgun or practice with the bow Don't just focusse on morning activities, decoys help butdon'tt spend a fortune on them, use your locateror calls anddon'tt spook the flock.Call every ten min. or so if a gobbler cuts you off he's interested if he has hens you have a tough fight on your hands to pull him in. You can mimic the boss hen or a number of things just try differentnt things and see what works.

Good luck!

Last edited by RockyMtnGobblers on Sat Jan 19, 2013 4:32 am, edited 2 times in total.

I personally like to get tight to the roost and call soft. I like to be as close as I can, but that takes a lot of stealthy tip-toeing in the dark. If I can get within 100yds, awesome. If not, then that is ok, but I want to be close enough where I can see them fly down. I don't call until that bird hits the ground, no matter how bad I want too. As soon as he hits the ground, I am the first "hen" to call and it's game on. I call soft and see how he responds (usually they come running). Then I read the bird, sometime the louder the better, even if they are up close.

My suggestion is if you haven't already, get yourself a glass-slate call and learn to get really good on it. You can get down right seductive with it. learn to do a real quiet "purrrrr-cluck." Kills em! Also learn to piss off hens. Like any women, they hate when they get cut-off or talked over. You get my drift...? If you got a henned-up bird as soon as hen starts yapping, cut her off and do it aggressively. Stop, and wait for her to start again, then cut her off again. If you can get her to come looking for a fight, you have that tom on a string.

I usually get in close also 100 ft. or so, got so close in the one morning one time I moved and a hen putted in the tree I was leaning against, I just sat still, no more puts and they weren't spooked off the roost. I have one I'll set up on around the corner about 100 yards away because that's where they fly down to and travel through. Use your locater call in the afternoon to find those gobblers, if he cuts you off he wants you if not don't be afraid to bushwhack em?

turkey calling is essential, but use it sparingly, the most we do it is once every 15 minutes but most of the time we dont use them that much. IN the morning, if you hear a gobble, gobble back and wait for him to gobble and then u gobble and then shut up. For the rest of the day just use clucks and yelps sparingly.

Once you strike a bird on the roost try to move within 150 yards. When normal fly down time has arrived do some clucks and yelps in a mixture. Once a bird is responding to you and definitely is responding to you then back off the call and every 15 minutes or so let a series of soft yelps out . If a bird hangs up that's when the soft purrs on a slat come in handy most of the time a tom can't stand it any longer . But as said in other post turkeys are a challenge not all will act the same or respond to the same calls so it's always nice to have a mixed bag of calls slates mouth calls and box calls are all good to have on you . Good luck this season